Three-Alarm Fire Destroys Home In Milton

A three-alarm fire that started last night gutted a house on 1466 Canton Ave. Low water pressure in a nearby hydrant forced firefighters to use another hydrant one-half mile away. 

The first 911 call came in at 5:30pm from Curry College, with the fire department being told there "was smoke in the area."

Engine 4 was dispatched to search the area for the origin of the smoke, but it wasn’t until a second call was made to the department by a neighbor before the exact location of the blaze could be confirmed.

Recovery efforts were hampered by the remote location of the property and by the apparent lack of water pressure in the fire hydrant adjacent to the building that meant that the fire was able to burn despite the presence of the local fire departments.

“When we got here, it had been burning for a good deal of time,” said Chief Jack Grant. “Before it was discovered it had been burning in the basement for some time. We got the call from Curry College and then we got another call saying that there was a building fire on Canton Avenue. When we arrived, the house was fully involved from front to back.”

Nadia McKay, Belash’s sister, has been in constant contact with her brother and she confirmed that the fire departments had responded “amazingly quickly.”

“There were at least 100 people here last night. It was insane,” McKay said. “The fire hydrant that’s meant to serve this house was dry, we’re on a dead end and up a hill. They had to go ... to get water, which let the fire burn for a long time. The middle of the house was gone right away. It reached such a heat that everything burned. It wasn’t the flames but the level of heat.”

Insurance assessors on the site this morning were waiting to confirm that the building would be torn down later today after deciding that it was “a total loss.”

The 1920’s property is valued at $928,500 and is owned by Alexis Belash, a Milton resident, who is currently working abroad for three years.

Firefighters from Milton were joined by companies from Boston, Quincy, Canton and Rudolph in battling the blaze that might have been caused by an electrical problem that originated in the basement.

Six engines responded, with close to 30 firefighters involved in attempting to save the building that was unoccupied by the residents at the time. 

According to Milton Fire Chief Grant, the fire “started in the basement but the cause is still under investigation.”

The house was one of three buildings on a family estate on Canton Avenue and has been part of the area since the turn of the 20^th Century.

Belash has been renting the property to family friends while he works in Malaysia. They were not in the house when it caught fire but were too distraught to comment on last night’s events.